October 10, 2012 (Wednesday)
Dale Pogue’s blog yesterday about the music of Jimmie Rodgers sent me scurrying to You Tube to listen to his songs. He made his first recording in 1927, followed by many tunes about the Depression years and the Hobos who rode the rails in the 1930’s. I was immediately reminded of my childhood and the place of those songs in our home. My grandfather loved to sing the railroad songs because he was a railroad man, a section gang foreman on the Rabbit line of the Southern Pacific Railway in East Texas. As I listened to the old Jimmie Rodgers recordings, I could also hear my grandfather singing those songs.
Many song writers of America are modern poets. The lyrics of their music many times get right down to the “Nitty Gritty” of social issues and personal relationships. One of Jimmie Rodgers’ songs was entitled, “No Hard Times,” a note of optimism in the midst of the troubled Depression years.
NO HARD TIMES
I got a barrel of flour Lord I got a bucket of lard
I ain’t got no blues got chickens in my backyard.
Got corn in my crib cotton growin’ in my patch
I got that old hen a sittin’ waitin’ for that old hen to hatch
I’m gonna hitch up my mule and take a holt of my line
I can’t be bothered with all those old hard times.
I’m gonna build me a shanty Lord I’m gonna settle down
Get me a corn fed mama and Lordy quit a runnin round.
I can make more money with my pick and plow
With my one-eyed mule and my good ole Jersey cow.
Yodel lyee-oh hard time blues…
Back in those Depression years, a person might not have chickens or mules, but even in the cramped cities was inspired by Jimmie Rodgers’ songs to cheer up, make the best of things and look forward to better times.
I love music of all kinds. Classical, Bluegrass, Swing, Pop, Soft Rock, “Elevator music,” Blues, Hymns, Gospel Songs, Spiritual choruses, and much more–you name it, I like it. It has a calming effect upon the soul. It’s good for us. My thanks to Dale Pogue for reminding us about a song writer of long ago whose music is as alive today as we want it to be.